Thermal enhanced upper and dual heat sink exposed molded leadless package

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor device  30  and a molded upper heat sink  10 . The heat sink has an interior surface  16  that faces the semiconductor device and an exterior surface  15  that is at least partially exposed to the ambient environment of the packaged device. An annular planar base  11  surrounds a raised or protruding central region  12 . That region is supported above the plane of the base  11  by four sloped walls  13.1 - 13.4 . The walls slope at an acute angle with respect to the planar annular base and incline toward the center of the upper heat sink  10 . Around the outer perimeter of the annular base  11  are four support arms  18.1 - 18.4 . The support arms are disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the interior surface  16  of the planar annular base  11.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 11/299,270, filed Dec. 9, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,468,548, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Semiconductor devices must be packaged before they can be installed andused in electronic products or systems such as cell phones, portablecomputers, personal digital assistants and others. The semiconductorpackage must accommodate the size and operation of the device that itsholds and consider several factors that impact the viability andlongevity of the packaged device. These factors include the cost of thepackage and its mechanical and electrical characteristics.

One of the most efficient methods for packaging a device is assemblingthe device on a lead frame and encapsulating the assembly in aninsulating material such as plastic resin. That method is widely used topackage most commercial semiconductor devices and other methods, such asceramic packaging, are used for special applications such as militaryand outer space applications. Most plastic encapsulation is carried outby using a transfer molding process. It permits a manufacturer tosimultaneously encapsulate hundreds of devices. In a typical moldingprocess a number of semiconductor dies are attached to die attach padsof a lead frame. The lead frame may hold four to six or more diesbetween opposite side rails. Tie bars extend from the side rails to thedie attach pad. Leads surround the die attach pad. The leads have a bondregion for receiving a wire bond. After the device is placed on the dieattach pad, a wire bond machine connects very small diameter gold oraluminum wires between contact pads on the device and the leads.Portions of the leads extend outside the package. Some packages haveprominent leads that extend into through holes in a printed circuitboard. Other packages have smaller exposed leads and some packages aretermed “leadless” because they merely expose the lower surface of a leadthat has its upper surface wire bonded to the device.

Packaging is the last step in semiconductor device manufacturing. Afterthe semiconductor die is packaged, it is ready for final test, shipmentand use in a product. The package must accommodate the operationalparameters of the device. Every device carries electrical current andthus every device generates heat. As more and more transistors arecombined on a die or as power semiconductor devices are operated athigher voltages, higher currents and higher switching speeds, more heatis generated. There is no need for such heat and too much can destroy adevice.

While plastic is an inexpensive and easy to use material, it is not agood conductor of heat. Many plastic encapsulated semiconductor devicesrequire added cooling to remove excess heat, cool the device and keepthe device from failing. One way of removing excess heat is the use ofexternal heat sinks. These are simple thermal conductors affixed to theoutside of a plastic package for carrying heat away from the package.

External heat sinks are simple to install but they are ofteninsufficient to remove heat from the package because heat generated bythe device must travel by conduction through the plastic encapsulatingmaterial. The low thermal conductivity of plastic may cause excess heatto accumulate in the package before the external heat sink can remove itfrom the device.

Others have attempted to solve this problem by proposing a heat sinkmolded into the plastic package. See for example U.S. Pat. No.6,646,339. Its FIGS. 2B and 3 are representative of a typical internalheat sink. A half etched lead frame 170 has a heat sink pedestal 180with half etched sections 150. Heat is transferred via thermalconduction from the bottom of the die 20 to the pedestal 110 where it isdissipated in the ambient environment of the device 13. One drawback ofsuch an arrangement is that heat generated near the surface of the die20 and travels through the thickness of the die before reaching the heatsink pedestal 110. However, the location of the heat sink at the bottomincreases the assembly cost and there is not too much heat dissipatedfrom the top of the package.

One solution to the problem or removing heat from the top surface of adie is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,844,622. See its FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.That patent describes heat sinks 53, 63, and 73 that are located abovethe upper surface of a semiconductor die. All those heat sinks have anexposed external surface and an internal surface member that contacts oris in thermal conduction with the top surface of the die.

The solution provided in that patent has several drawbacks. The heatsink floats and is not anchored to the lead frame. Such a floating,uncontrolled heat sink may contact the bond wires and cause a short oropen circuit or both. Indeed, even placing the heat sink into the moldrisks damage to the delicate and fragile bond wires. If the height ofthe bond wires is not precisely controlled, one or more may contact theheat sink. Since the heat sink is typically metal, such contact with abond wire will likely short out the device. The top of the exposed heatsink is the same size as the package. That type of structure isundesired because it leaves a continuous, unprotected external lateralinterface between the molding compound the metal heat sink. Since themetal and the molding compound have different thermal coefficients ofexpansion, the heat sink surface with delaminate from the moldingcompound.

SUMMARY

The invention solves the problem of heat accumulation by providing animproved upper molded heat sink. It enhances heat transfer anddissipation by proving two exposed heat sinks, one on each side of thesemiconductor device. The invention also solves the problem ofinterference with bond wires by providing support arms that hold theupper heat sink in place and prevent it from contacting the bond wires.The support arms also restrain the upper heat sink during molding sothat it does not move from its desired placement with respect to the dieand the lead frame. The invention solves the delaminating problem byproviding an upper heat sink that is enclosed on its sides by themolding compound and has a continuous external lateral interface betweenthe heat sink and the molding compound. An advantage of the invention isthat it is compatible with existing lead frame designs. The support armsconnect to disposable tie bar members so no modification of lead framedesign is required to accommodate the support arms.

In its broader aspects the invention provides a packaged semiconductordevice with an upper molded heat sink and a method of making suchpackaged semiconductor devices. The package includes a semiconductordevice having top and bottom surfaces. The die is attached to the topsurface of the die attach pad of a lead frame. The die and the leadframe are connected to a molded upper heat sink. It has a planar annularbase with a protruding central surface that extends from the planarannular base toward the die. One side of the protruding central surfacecontacts the die pad and the other side is exposed to the ambientenvironment to dissipate heat from the top surface of the die. Themolding compound surrounds the outer edge of the planar surface toinhibit or prevent delaminating. Support arms extend from the edge ofthe planar annular base and are adhesively connected to tie bars on thelead frame. The tie bars are integral with the lead frame and thusstabilize the upper heat sink during molding. The tie bars are severedafter molding to separate one packaged device from adjacent moldeddevices.

The invention provides not only a molded upper heat sink, but is alsoprovides a molded lower heat sink. The invention has a half etched leadframe with a die pad that has another, lower heat sink.

The method of the invention begins with a step of providing a lead framehaving input and output lead pads and a central die attach pad forreceiving and holding a semiconductor die. An adhesive is applied to thedie attach pad and the semiconductor die is placed on the pad and isheld in place by the adhesive. Next the device is wire bonded to theinput and output lead pads of the lead frame. The wires may be gold oraluminum or an alloy of one or both. Next an adhesive is applied toportions of the lead frame and to the top of the die. Then an upper heatsink is attached to the top of the die and to the lead frame. The upperheat sink has a planar annular portion, a protruding central portion,and four support arms. The support arms attach to tie bars of the leadframe and the protruding central portion attaches to the top of the die.Those five points of attachment are sufficient to keep the upper heatsink in place during molding. The support arm and the protruding centralportion are sized to keep the planar annular ring from interfering withthe bond wires. The device is commonly fabricated together with a numberof other devices on lead frames held together by side rails or otherdisposable support members. As many as a hundred or more devices mountedon lead frames are placed into that a mold of a transfer moldingmachine. That machine injects molten plastic molding resin into themold. After the resin solidifies, the mold is opened and the devices areseparated from each other by a saw or other suitable singulatingapparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 a is an exterior plan view of the upper heat sink.

FIG. 1 b is a side view of the upper heat sink.

FIG. 1 c is a sectional view of the upper heat sink.

FIG. 1 d is a perspective view of the upper heat sink showing theinterior surface.

FIG. 2 a is a plan exterior view of the upper heat sink assembled on alead frame.

FIG. 2 b is sectional view of the assembled upper heat sink taken alongthe line 2 b-2 b′ of FIG. 2 a.

FIG. 2 c is partial perspective view of the interior surface of theupper heat sink assembled on a lead frame from which the die has beenremoved for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 2 d is a sectional view take view of the assembled upper heat sinktaken along the line of 2 d-2 d′ of FIG. 2 a.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing the arms of the upper heatsink attached to tie bars of the lead frame from which the planarannular base and the protruding central surface of the upper heat sinkare removed for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a lead frame with corner tie bars.

FIGS. 5.1-5.9 show a series of steps for packaging a semiconductordevice.

FIG. 6 shows an alternate series of steps for attaching the support armsto the sacrificial tie bars.

FIG. 7 shows a series of steps for attaching the support arms of theheat sink to lead embedded lead pads.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The upper heat sink 10 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 a-1 d. Theupper heat sink has an interior surface 16 that faces a semiconductordevice and an exterior surface 15 that is at least partially exposed tothe ambient environment of the packaged device. An annular planar base11 surrounds a raised or protruding central region 12. That region issupported above the plane of the base 11 by four sloped walls 13.1-13.4.The walls slope at an acute angle with respect to the planar annularbase and incline toward the center of the upper heat sink 10. Around theouter perimeter of the annular base 11 are four support arms 18.1-18.4.The support arms are disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to theinterior surface 16 of the planar annular base 11.

The upper heat sink is made of thermally conductive material. Anysuitable metal, metal alloy or other material may suffice so long as thematerial is capable of forming the structure for the invention and hassufficient thermal conductivity to remove excess heat from thesemiconductor die. In one embodiment the material is copper or copperalloy and the thickness in a range of 0.2 to 1.0 mm and preferably is0.8 mm. The material is malleable and is formed into the desiredstructure by one or more metal working machines, including and notlimited to punch presses and stamping machines. In a typical formationoperation a rectangular sheet of metal is cut to form the support armsand the planar base. A stamping machine presses the planar base into adie cavity to form the raised or protruding center region 12 and thesloped walls 13.1-13.4. Another machine bends the support arms to thedesired angle.

The upper heat sink is assembled onto a lead frame 20 and semiconductordevice 30 as shown in FIGS. 2 a-2 d. The lead frame has opposite siderails 21, 22, a number of input and output lead pads 24.1-24.8 alongedges parallel to the side rails 21, 22 and tie bars 23.1-23.4. The tiebars are on the other two edges of the lead frame and connect any onelead frame to adjacent lead frames. Those skilled in the art understandthat multiple lead frames are held together with side rails and tie barsand such lead frame assemblies commonly have four to six die pads forreceiving semiconductor devices or integrated circuits. The lead framesare temporarily held together by the tie bars located between die attachpads. After molding is completed, the individual packaged devices areseparated from each other by severing the tie bars. The lead frame 20may be a half etched lead frame that provides a lower heat sink 50 as anintegral part of a die attach pad 31 as shown in FIGS. 2 or 3.

The semiconductor device 30 is secured to the die attach pad 31 by epoxyor solder 25. The support arms 18.1-18.4 are connected respectively tothe tie bars 23.1-23.4. The input/output pads 24.1-24.4 are disposedalong one edge of the lead frame and the other input/output pads24.5-25.8 are disposed along the opposite edge. Bond wires (not shown)extend between contact pads (not shown) on the periphery of thesemiconductor or integrated circuit to the input/output pads of the leadframe. 20. For example, see FIG. 3 where input/output pad 24.5 isconnected to the device 30 through bond wires 32 and 33. Other wire bondconnections are shown but reference numbers are omitted to render thefigure more understandable. That figure also shows the lower heat sink50 and the connections of the support arms 18.1-18.4 to the respectivetie bars 23.1-23.4. In larger packages, the tie bars may be located inthe corners. Tie bar location is determined by the type of package(double or quad sided) and is not related to package size. See forexample FIG. 4 where the tie bars are in the corners in order to providemore space around the periphery for input/output pads.

Turning now to FIGS. 5.1-5.9, they show a series of steps for packaginga semiconductor device in accordance with the invention. In FIG. 5.1 ahalf etched lead frame 20 is provided. It has four die attach pads andeach die attach pad 31 has a pedestal lower heat sink 51. Per FIG. 5.2,a die attach adhesive 25 is applied to the die attach pads by a suitablemechanism in a manner known to those skilled in the art. The adhesivemay be electrically conductive or non-conductive. A conventional dieattach adhesive is Ablebond 84-1 LMISR4 supplied by Ablestik company.The lead frame passes a pick and place machine head where previouslyseparated semiconductor device or integrated circuit devices are pickedup by a vacuum head and placed onto the adhesive on the die attach pad.See FIG. 5.3. The lead frame is then cured by heat and time to set thedevice 30 on the die attach pad 31.

After the adhesive is cured and the die is firmly attached, the leadframe is taken through a wire bonding machine. As shown in FIG. 5.4 themachine attaches bond wires between input/output pads 24 and contactareas on the surface of the device 30. A typical bond wire 32 may beeither gold or aluminum or an alloy of one or both metals. After wirebonding, another adhesive 65 is applied to the tie bars 23 and to thetop of the device 30. Adhesive 65 may be the same adhesive as die attachadhesive 25 or one made especially for connecting the support arms andupper heat sink to the tie bars and device. As shown in FIG. 5.6,another pick and place machine picks up a header that has a number ofupper heat sinks 10 that corresponds to the number of devices on thelead frame. The heat sinks are accurately placed over the devices andlowered into place so that the support arms 23 contact the adhesive 65on the tie bars 18 and the interior surface of the central protrudingmember 14 contacts the top of the device 30. Mounting of the header doesnot disturb the wire bonds because the bends of the bond wire are spacedfrom the planar base 11 and the sloped walls 13 keep the planar basefrom interfering with the bond wires. The assembly 40 of the upper heatsink and lead frame are shown in FIG. 5.7. The assembly 40 is thenplaced with other assemblies into a mold. The mold is then injected withmolten plastic resin. The plastic resin is melted and then transferredquickly under high pressure by a transfer molding machine. Duringinjection, the upper heat sink 10 is held in place by its support arms18.1-18.4 and by the adhesion between the face of the protruding surface14 and the top of the die 30. The upper heat sink has four peripheralbeams that tie it to the lead frame and a relatively large plate thatsecures it to the device. The connections are sufficient to keep theupper heat sink in place and to resist the shearing force of the hotplastic. The resin 36 hardens and thus encapsulates the assembly 40 insolid plastic. See FIG. 5.8. After the resin cures and cools, theadjacent devices are separated from each other by severing the tie bars23 between adjacent devices. Separation is normally accomplished with asaw. See FIG. 5.9. The packaged semiconductor device has a continuousring of molded resin around the annular planar base 11 of the upper heatsink.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support arms are connected to thesacrificial tie bars and wire bonds the chip to the leads. Anotherembodiment permits the user to employ flip chip technology to attach thegate and source to the pedestal that has a suitable gate lead andconnect the support arms to the tie bars. See FIGS. 6.1-6.5. Stillanother embodiment of the process and product makes it possible toattach the support arms to one or more of the lead frame pads. See FIGS.7.1-7.6.

Those skilled in the art understand that the invention may be used toincorporate an upper molded heat sink into any mold-encapsulatedsemiconductor device. The top heat sink can be treated as a ground planeof the package and it will reduce the mutual inductance of the packageand provide protection against electromagnetic interference. The topexposed heat sink can be applied to two or four sides of MLP (microleadframe) packages. The top heat sink may have protruding portion ormay be flat. The top heat sink may be used to connect the source of ahigh side mosfet to the drain of a low side mosfet on a multi-die paddleof a quad MLP package. An advantage of the invention is that it removesheat from the top surface of the die and that is often where most of theheat is generated. The invention may be used alone or in combinationwith a lower heat sink that removes heat from the lower surface of thesemiconductor device. Such a dual heat sink device will have enhancedcapacity to dissipate heat.

Having thus disclosed one or more embodiments of the claimed inventionthose skilled in the art will understand that other modifications,substitutions, changes and deletions may be made to the particularstructures and processes discussed above without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1. A packaged semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor diehaving top and bottom surfaces; a lead frame having a die pad attachedto the bottom surface of the semiconductor die; and a metallic upperheat sink having one or more integral support members extending from theupper heat sink to the leadframe, said upper heat sink having a planarmember comprising an annular ring having an inner boundary surrounding aprotruding surface and a plurality of sloped wall members extending fromthe inner boundary of the annular ring to the protruding surface, alower surface of said protruding surface contacting the top surface ofthe semiconductor die and an upper surface of said upper heat sinkexposed to dissipate heat from the semiconductor die.
 2. The packagedsemiconductor device of claim 1 wherein the lead frame comprises a lowerheat sink.
 3. The packaged semiconductor device of claim 1 wherein theupper heat sink is a unitary body, the planar surface having uniformthickness.
 4. The packaged semiconductor device of claim 1 furthercomprising a molded package housing the semiconductor die generallyrectangular in shape and comprising input/output pads disposed along twoopposite sides of the molded package; and further comprising supportarms in the same plane as said input/output pads and on the two sides ofsaid generally rectangular molded package not having the input/outputpads.
 5. The packaged semiconductor device of claim 1 wherein the leadframe is a half etched lead frame with a lower pedestal heat sink on thedie pad for holding the die.
 6. The packaged semiconductor device ofclaim 1, wherein an upper surface of said protruding surface and uppersurfaces of said plurality of sloped wall members define a hollow areabelow the plane of said annular ring and above the protruding surfaceand the plurality of sloped wall members.
 7. A packaged semiconductordevice comprising: a semiconductor die having top and bottom surfaces; alead frame having a die pad attached to the bottom surface of thesemiconductor die; a molded lower heat sink thermally connected to thedie pad on one surface and having an exposed second surface fordissipating heat from the bottom surface of the die; and a molded upperheat sink connected to the leadframe, said upper heat sink having aplanar member comprising an annular ring having an inner boundarysurrounding a protruding surface and a plurality of sloped wall membersextending from the inner boundary of the annular ring to the protrudingsurface, a lower surface of said protruding surface contacting the topsurface of the semiconductor die and an upper surface of said upper heatsink exposed to dissipate heat from the semiconductor die.
 8. Thepackaged semiconductor device of claim 7 wherein the upper heat sink isconnected by one or more support members extending from the planarmember to the lead frame.
 9. The packaged semiconductor device of claim7 wherein half etched lead frame has a plurality of input and outputpads and the semiconductor device is electrically connected to the inputand output pads by bond wires.
 10. The packaged semiconductor device ofclaim 7 wherein the upper heat sink comprises a metal comprising copperor aluminum.
 11. The packaged semiconductor device of claim 7, whereinan upper surface of said protruding surface and upper surfaces of saidplurality of sloped wall members define a hollow area below the plane ofsaid annular ring and above the protruding surface and the plurality ofsloped wall members.
 12. A molded resin packaged semiconductor devicecomprising: a semiconductor die having top and bottom surfaces; a leadframe having a die pad attached to the bottom surface of thesemiconductor die; and a metallic upper heat sink means disposed abovethe semiconductor device having one or more integral support membersextending from the upper heat sink to the leadframe, an annular ringhaving an inner boundary surrounding a protruding surface, a pluralityof sloped wall members extending from the inner boundary of the annularring to the protruding surface, a lower surface connected to the topsurface of the semiconductor die, and an upper surface exposed toambient environment for dissipating heat from the semiconductor die. 13.The molded resin packaged semiconductor device of claim 12 wherein theexposed surface of the upper heat sink means includes a concave portion.14. The molded resin packaged semiconductor device of claim 12 whereinthe upper heat sink means comprises formed sheet metal.
 15. The moldedresin packaged semiconductor device of claim 12 wherein mold resinsurrounds the exposed surface of the upper heat sink means.
 16. Thepackaged semiconductor device of claim 12, wherein an upper surface ofsaid protruding surface and upper surfaces of said plurality of slopedwall members define a hollow area below the plane of said annular ringand above the protruding surface and the plurality of sloped wallmembers.